Page 27 of Love & Heart Braking

“You were right that day. I just wasn’t ready to tell you. What I am is a death sentence, and I thought it might scare you away because dating me isn’t as simple as dating another person—”

“You don’t need to explain anything. I’m just glad you’re comfortable enough now to tell me. And I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

I stemmed my nervous babbling. “Really?”

“Really.” His gray eyes gleamed. “Clever idea with the black makeup over the tattoo.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. “There’s one more thing you should know.”

Devereaux sat back to all appearances completely relaxed. “Tell me.”

“It’s more of a show thing.” I assessed the confines of the carriage, then moved back to the opposite bench. It’d be a tight fit.

I opened my hands most of the way.

Light blared, and my chest filled with joy as my bow dropped in to join us.

Devereaux’s mouth bobbed.

“A bow,” he whispered. “What does that mean?”

“Heart elementals usually gain their bows at twenty. With the curse shaking my magic, I only received it recently.”

When I’d first felt love. The bow hummed in my hands—also a new occurrence—and it had to have everything to do with the man opposite me.

My true love.

I couldn’t believe I was one of the lucky few who’d found my exact other half.

“A heart elemental,” he echoed. Devereaux looked up and the blood drained from his face. “The twelve know.”

I dipped my head.

He knocked on the carriage. “Reroute to Ceres Close.”

“What?” I blurted.

“We need to leave Nepos.”

What? “Devereaux, I’m not leaving Nepos.”

“Soleil can come too. I have money.”

He did? Woohoo. I banished my bow, then grabbed his shoulders. “Devereaux, stop.”

His eyes were blue. I brought my face as near as I dared and whispered, “Stop. It’s okay.”

The berserker dragged in a breath. “It’s not okay.”

“It will be okay.”

“They know. How?”

“I have no idea. And it doesn’t matter. We’re going to take them out.” I longed to touch my forehead to his. To kiss his bottom lip and rub my cheek against his.

But I forced myself to let him go. For now.

One of his eyes returned to cool gray, but the other remained electric blue. Something I’d never seen before.

---